Horace Frederick CORBETT

CORBETT, Horace Frederick

Service Number: 19969
Enlisted: 3 August 1915, Keswick, South Australia
Last Rank: Gunner
Last Unit: 8th Field Artillery Brigade
Born: Davenport , South Australia, 15 October 1893
Home Town: Farina, South Australia
Schooling: Public School, Port Augusta
Occupation: Telegraphist
Died: Killed in Action, France, 4 June 1917, aged 23 years
Cemetery: Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Nord Pas de Calais
Plot 1, Row Q, Grave number 6, Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Nord Pas de Calais, France
Memorials: Adelaide National War Memorial, Adelaide Postmaster General's Department WWI Honour Board , Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Farina War Memorial, Port Augusta Davenport WW1 Memorial, Port Augusta RSL Hall Circular Honour Roll, Port Augusta St Augustine's Church Memorial Honor Roll, Soldiers' Memorial Band Rotunda
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World War 1 Service

3 Aug 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 19969, Keswick, South Australia
20 May 1916: Involvement AIF WW1, Gunner, 19969, 8th Field Artillery Brigade , Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Medic embarkation_ship_number: A7 public_note: ''
20 May 1916: Embarked AIF WW1, Gunner, 19969, 8th Field Artillery Brigade , HMAT Medic, Melbourne
4 Jun 1917: Involvement AIF WW1, Gunner, 19969, 8th Field Artillery Brigade , Battle of Messines, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 19969 awm_unit: 8th Australian Field Artillery Brigade awm_rank: Gunner awm_died_date: 1917-06-04

Help us honour Horace Frederick Corbett's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Robert Kearney

A PROPOS the story In this column about Colonel Mailer and Mick Devine, Fred McMillan recalled an amusing incident at Maribyrnong during the last war. The battery was out on manoeuvres under Captain Lawrence, who usually rode a high-spirited horse in a dashing manner.
He signalled for his staff, who went off at a gallop. 'Corbie,' a signaller on a big raw-boned waler, flashed past the captain, who yelled, 'Where the h --- are you going?'
'Corbie' quickly looked over his shoulder and yelled back, 'I don't know. Ask the horse!'
Said Fred McMillan: ' 'Corbie,' a greal signaller and pal, was one of the first of our lot to go west. His name is on the honor roll at the G.P.O.— H F Corbett.'

Out among the People (1940, May 2). Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), p. 62. Retrieved April 29, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92397154

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Biography contributed by St Francis de Sales College

Horace Frederick Corbett was born on the 15 of October in 1893 in Davenport, South Australia. His mother is Sarah Ann Corbett and his father is William Edward Corbett. His home town where Horace grew up was in Farina, South Australia. As a child Horace attended a public school in Port Augusta. His religion was the Church of England. Before enlisting for the military, he was a signaller.

On 27 July 1915 Horace enlisted at Keswick South Australia. He embarked from Melbourne on the A7 Medic almost a year later, on 20 May 1916. About 2 months later he disembarked at Plymouth, on the 18/7/16 and stayed near there for a further 5 months for training. Then on the 30/12/16 Horace went to France. At the date of enlistment his description of figure was recorded, ‘Age 22 years, height 5 feet, complexion dark, eyes brown, hair dark’. 

During the war, he was a Gunner in the artullery. Horace was a part of the AIF (Australian Imperial Force). His unit name was the 8th Artillery Brigade, Battery 31, his Service Number was 19969. This Brigade was formed in Egypt as part of the ‘doubling’ of the AIF and became part of the 3rd Division. The rank he was given on the nominal roll was a Gunner. 

Unfortunately, on the 4th of June 1917 Horace Frederick Corbett was pronounced dead from being killed in action. His grave is located at Trois-Arbres Cemetery. (Plot 1, Row Q, Grave no. 6). Steenwerck France. This Steenwerck Village remained untouched in the First World War as it was captured and possessed by the Germans on the 10th of April 1918. At the end of 1918 over 700 graves were brought into the cemetery from the battlefields. There are now 1,074 Commonwealth Servicemen of the First World War.  

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Biography contributed by Elizabeth Allen

Horace Frederick CORBETT was born on 15th October, 1893 in Davenport, South Australia

His parents were William Edward CORBETT and Sarah Ann STEPHENS

There is a memorial headstone in Port Augusta General Cemetery for Horace